When Tarek Loubani and John Greyson met a year ago at the Toronto Palestine Film Festival, they had no idea that before the festival rolled around again this year they would be imprisoned together in an overcrowded, cockroach-infested cell in Cairo, caught up in the aftermath of Egypt’s most bloody violence of the decade.

On Sunday, fresh fears were raised for the two Canadians: their detention in Tora prison, where they have been
held since Aug. 16
, was extended for another 45 days. Up until then, their detention had been extended three times, but each time for 15 days.

The decision to make that an additional month and a half is the most severe ruling yet.

Late Sunday, the Prime Minister’s Office stepped in and issued this statement: “In the absence of charges, Dr. Loubani and Mr. Greyson should be released immediately.”

Fears for the two men, who went on a hunger strike two weeks ago, escalated with indications that they have been targeted by authorities seeking to lay at least a dozen serious charges against them, including “terrorizing citizens,” weapons possession and attempting to burn down a police station.

“My concern for John and Tarek is that the extension of their detention is a bad sign,” said Heba Morayev, Egypt director of Human Rights Watch in Cairo. “Since there is clearly no evidence in their case of any criminal activity on their part, their continued detention is based on instructions from security agencies.”

And, she said, they could face “interrogation on a whole set of charges.”

However, the fact they are not yet formally charged could also indicate prosecutors have not made up their minds whether the case will ultimately be dismissed.

Loubani, an emergency room doctor in London, Ont., and Greyson, a Toronto filmmaker, were arrested during the violent street clashes between security forces and supporters of ousted president Mohammed Morsi that left hundreds dead.

Cairo was only a stopover on their journey to Gaza, where Loubani had a medical mission which Greyson planned to film, so initially there were expectations that they would be promptly released as innocent bystanders.

“This is the worst possible outcome,” said Marwa Farouk, the men’s lead defence counsel, on Sunday. “They are dealing with them in the same way they are dealing with the Muslim Brotherhood.”

In a
statement from prison
published Saturday, the two detainees said they arrived in Cairo with transit visas as clashes were raging between pro-Morsi supporters and security forces downtown in Ramses Square. Loubani provided emergency medical care to wounded protesters while Greyson videotaped the chaos. They were arrested later that evening when they stopped at a checkpoint to ask for help.

Under current Egyptian law they may be held for six months — until March 2014 — without charges, and if charged, they could be behind bars for two more years before trial. They are currently held “pending investigation,” and authorities say they are building a
“solid case”
against them.

The two Canadians’ dramatic odyssey began when they met by chance last year at the annual
Toronto Palestinian Film Festival
, where Greyson was a long term adviser and Loubani was viewing films.

“Tarek told John he regularly goes to Gaza as a doctor, and John was very interested. He decided to go and make a film about Tarek’s work,” said Cairo-based filmmaker and activist Omar Robert Hamilton.

Greyson had been scheduled to appear Sunday on a panel with Hamilton at this year’s festival. Instead, the event became a tribute to the two jailed men, and international activists are launching a new social media campaign to free them.

“This extension is very scary,” said Hamilton, who founded the activist media collective
Mosireen
. “We thought there was a possibility they were lost in the opaque maze of the Egyptian prison system. This definitely looks as though there is malicious intent.”

Dania Majid, the festival’s programmer, said that Greyson had thought up the Sunday panel: “It was his idea to bring in activists and video people to get out their message of social change.”

Before the PMO statement was issued, Consular Affairs Minister Lynne Yelich had said that “we were disappointed to learn that Dr. Loubani and Mr. Greyson will remain in custody.”

She noted that she and Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird “have been in close contact with Egyptian officials on multiple occasions, and our embassy in Cairo continues to meet with senior Egyptian government officials regularly on this case.”

Experts on Egyptian affairs say diplomacy has become increasingly complicated under the country’s military-dominated regime.

In Egypt, the Foreign Ministry insists the case is in the hands of the judiciary, which is “totally independent.”

“The Harper government has more power than just having meetings and making phone calls,” she said in an email to the Star. “Canadian mining companies are
clamouring to gain access
to Egypt’s resources and with the Egyptian economy in free fall, the military is desperate for these investments to arrive.

Ottawa has, she said, “the power to make new investments in Egypt conditional on Egypt respecting basic human rights, including the right to be free from arbitrary detention. The question is: will our government put the lives and safety of two of its citizens above the short-term economic interests of the mining sector?”

Sharif Abdel Kouddous
is a Cairo-based fellow of the Nation Institute.

Correction - October 17, 2013:
This article was edited from a previous version that misspelled Dania Majid's surname.

More on thestar.com

We value respectful and thoughtful discussion. Readers are encouraged to flag comments that fail to meet the standards outlined in our
Community Code of Conduct.
For further information, including our legal guidelines, please see our full website
Terms and Conditions.